Sarah Riddle: Slytherin with Heart
by Simmens
Summary: She'd rather die than let that happen to her. Sarah was breathing heavily with anger burning through her veins, setting her on fire. She's been a bystander for too long, now it's time for Voldemort's daughter to take action and revenge. After all, she was the brain behind everything... Planning wasn't Voldemorts strong suit. Takes place in year seven.
1. Beginnings

Usually, she was a bystander.

She had grown up with muggles. Of course, that would seem impossible for a girl of her heritage, but it had been the best way of hiding her away from both worlds, on the orders of her father.

The memories of the muggles she had been staying with had been altered, of course, so they thought she was their real daughter. They'd been compelled to obey her orders and yet to make everything appear normal to the outside world. Every so often, they would buy their daughter books from Diagon alley that covered both wizardry and pureblood behaviour to prepare her for the magic world and teach her more than normal children her age.

Only her father and Bellatrix knew of the girl's location. It was a contingency plan in case something unexpected happened, which it did. When Voldemort had vanished and Bellatrix had been imprisoned shortly after, a loyal death eater had made the necessary arrangements before committing suicide for the death eater cause.

She'd been allowed to go to school. A small, private, muggle one, led by an elderly man. It goes without questioning, that his mind had been altered as well and it seemed that Voldemort had caught a glimpse of the usefulness that the other world provided: Anonymity led to protection for his girl.

So when she wasn't learning muggle stuff that was deemed unnecessary – the death eaters had made sure she would pass every grade without learning – the girl studied magic.

True to her upbringing, spells had come easily to her. Having been given her first wand at 7, she was better with it than most wizards 8 years later; Yes, there were some difficulties with wandless magic, but it worked for simple spells and it wasn't like she planned on losing her wand. Potions were a necessary evil and even though she still excelled in the fine and precise art, the girl never looked forward to it. But her true passion belonged to animals. The more dangerous the animal, the more it drew the girl to her.

But the most, she loved her snake. It was a cobra that'd been charmed to never grow longer than the girl's height.

That she had little to no friends was due to the fact that she talked more to the snake than to her two guardians and often switched to Parseltongue when actually not wanting to. It earned her the nickname "freak" at school, but she learned soon enough not to let that bother her – when she threatened them with her poisonous snake, it was enough incentive for them to stop actively mobbing her.

At the age of fourteen, her father had come to get her. She'd been happy to finally see him and have a real father. His looks hadn't disturbed her, which probably was connected to the fact that he resembled a snake from a certain point of view.

For the little town she'd been living it, that day had been a day of tragedy: two muggles had been cruelly murdered and more had died by the fire in the private school.

Two days later, he'd marked her with his sign on her right forearm, a subtle yet crucial difference to where his other followers bore his mark. From there on, Voldemort's daughter had been a constant bystander at the death eater's actions.

She'd been there during the celebrations of her father's return.

She'd been there, when the remaining death eaters had been punished for their failings, wringing on the floor, crying in agony, begging for mercy that had neither been deserved nor given. She had held the wand that had punished them.

She was there when the small team of death eaters had come back from their successful and seemingly impossible mission to rob their enemies of their most valuable leader and tactician. They had celebrated that evening, drinking and dancing – and torturing.

Though the torture of their prisoners must not have been as agonizing, because everyone had been in a good mood. Better mood, after the torture, that is.

And now, she was sitting next to her father, a member of his inner circle; in them, he had the closest what could only be described as trust. This was not unusual, yet also the first time, because her face wasn't covered by a hood and a mask.

Her brown, almost black hair – bound in a loose French braid was framing her face and the emotionless eyes in a cold, yet beautiful way.

Voldemort surveyed his followers and couldn't help but feel something like pride course through his veins when his eyes came resting on his heir.

The somewhat tense atmosphere was interrupted by a lonely figure entering the room. Snape. Despite being late, his stride showed nothing of uncertainty or fear, a feat not few of Voldemort's present followers possessed, which gained him respect in the Dark Lord's eyes.

"Severus, how nice of you to join us. Take your seat" the dark wizard welcomed the man who'd been his spy for more than a decade now and Snape obeyed, taking the seat next to Voldemort's daughter.

"So, Severus, you say you can provide information about when Potter is scheduled to be moved by the Order?" Voldemort's high voice was directed towards the spy.

A low and painful moan cut through the conversation from the bound woman hovering below the ceiling.

"Wormtail! Haven't I told you to keep our guest silent?" Voldemort's voice was angry now and no one wanted to be near an angry Dark Lord, particularly not the shivering and pathetic Wormtail.

"Ye—Yes, my lord. Sorry, my lord." the animagus was quick to apologize and with a wave of his wand, the moans stopped. It would be a very long stretch to say that Sarah liked Wormtail, because she only barely tolerated him. He was just incompetent and the only positive things about him were the lessons he could provide and the fact that he basically brought her father back to the land of the living.

Voldemort motioned for Snape to continue.

"My lord, my sources tell me they plan on taking him to a safe house next Saturday…" instead of Snape, Yaxley - who was new in the inner circle – spoke up.

"My lord, I have information from the ministry that Potter isn't scheduled to be moved until his 17th birthday. My source seemed quite sure of that, I assure you!"

"Of course he would seem sure of it if he was under the Imperius curse." It was the first time anyone had heard the girl speaking. She had a deeper voice than her father and the way the words were slowly drooling of her tongue made it clear that she wasn't very impressed by Yaxley's words.

Yaxley looked at her, surprised that the girl had dared to speak with him in such a condoling way – if he had a few more brain cells, he would have noticed where she was sitting; Voldemort, reading the man's feeling, answered with evil glee.

"Yaxley, may I introduce you to my daughter, Sarah Riddle."

The addressed man gulped down the words that had most certainly lain on his tongue and replaced them with others.

"Deepest apologies, Milady."

Sarah smirked, but nodded thus accepting his words, fully aware of what he had been thinking before. She enjoyed seeing these strong, powerful men bow to a girl like her. The others meanwhile took in her appearance and scanned her for any weaknesses – they found none; Snape continued.

"They'll be moving Potter on brooms to avoid being detected by the ministry. And they don't know that we are aware of their plans."

"Good work, Severus. I'll lead the attack myself and expect capable ", he pause for a moment to emphasize his words, "flyers. My daughter, Sarah, will join us as well".

The girl nodded, she was a natural on a broom, despite only having been flying for two years.

"And keep in mind, Potter is mine! Make sure to tell that _everybody_!" Sarah seriously doubted that anyone could have forgotten what her father had done to those having dared to try killing Potter before. He was his. But she guessed that a little reminder and subtle encouragement wouldn't do any harm; they tended to forget quickly.

"Last time, I couldn't kill Potter. You see, his wand and mine share a connection like brothers, unique for wands. They don't want to fight each other which poses a problem…" slowly with calculated movements, Voldemort stood up and started walking around the table; Sarah noticed how masterfully he created tension amongst his followers.

"But there's a very simple solution to this rather annoying problem…A different wand will suffice to rid the world of Potter once and for all." It amused Voldemort's daughter to see how each of her father's followers tensed up when he was behind them – scared for the most valuable possession of a wizard.

Finally, he stopped behind Lucius Malfoy and extended a pale hand.

"My lord?" the patriarch's voice was timid and there were dark rings below his eyes; the man was a shadow from what he'd been when Sarah had first met him.

"Your wand, Lucius!" Voldemort's voice came out forcefully and the blonde man hurried to do as told. However, after his wand was taken, he left his hand open just long enough to make clear that he was expecting something in return. Idiot. And despite the fact that the Dark Lord had been weighting the wand in his hand, that little movement hadn't escaped him.

"You expect my wand in return, Lucius? After all the failure and mistakes of you and your son? Be grateful that this is your only punishment." his voice held something like evil glee and it was clear – if it hadn't been before – that giving his wand to someone as low as Lucius wasn't an option at all.

"My lord, we're honoured to serve you!" Bellatrix eagerly exclaimed, eager to get in her master's good graces.

"Are you, Bellatrix?" The Dark Lord questioned, a little smirk on his lips. "I believe you must be quite proud as well."

"My lord?" she asked.

"Have you not heard that your niece has just married the werewolf Lupin? Quite an honour, I believe." Bellatrix looked like she just ate slugs while the members around here started laughing.

"Enough. I think everyone has someone of… bad blood in their families. It is our duty to correct those mistakes and cleanse them from the magic world."

He paused to let the message sink in and then continued.

"On this count, I'd like to welcome our… guest Professor Charity Burbage." He waved his hand and the body above them moved closer to the table; with another wave it started turning slowly.

"I don't expect anyone to know her, as she teaches Muggle studies at Hogwarts…"

The death eaters looked at the dishevelled and crying woman with evident disgust in their faces.

Bellatrix cackled with disgust, already looking forward to what was bound to happen while the others were throwing insults at her or spitting on the ground. Disbelief and anger were in the air.

Sarah hated her immediately, not for her beliefs, but for her position. She was a teacher in a school, teaching and influencing kids to follow the Order and Potter at an age where they could hardly build their own opinion.

Sarah sneered, but didn't sink as low as to show her disgust more openly. 'Emotions are a weakness our enemies seek to harness against us' her father had told her.

"Severus…" the old teacher was now looking at Snape with pleading eyes. That fool hoped he'd save her while the addressed man's face was bare of emotion.

"Severus, please, help…!" With a flick of his wand, Voldemort silenced the woman.

"… She believes muggles not to be below us, but to be our equals! In her opinion, every wizard should be paired with a muggle! Or better yet, werewolves…"

Lucius' son almost fell from his chair as Voldemort killed her with a flick of his wand.

" _Nagini…_ " he called in Parseltongue, " _dinner…_ " The snake glided from the floor onto the table and slithered towards the body only to bury its teeth in the flesh moments later.

And Sarah wouldn't dare keeping such a meal from her snake.

" _Sam, come on, I'm sure Nagini leaves something for you…_ " She extended her hand so Sam could wrap herself around it.

" _Thankssss, mistresssss…_ " she hissed back before joining Nagini. Some of the death eaters around the body seemed to get sick at the sight. Sarah once did as well, but after some deaths it didn't bother her anymore. Didn't mean she particularly liked it because some humans didn't watch out for what they ate and once, Sam got sick from that.

Her father stood up which effectively ended the meeting and left the room and with him the tension.

One by one, the death eaters bowed to their dark lady and left and soon, only the Malfoys and the brown haired witch were sitting at the table.

As always, Sam brought her owner a piece of meat from the warm body.

" _Thanks, Sam, but you can eat it. I don't eat humans._ "

" _Your losssss…_ " she hissed back before unhinging her mouth and eagerly devouring the piece.

The Malfoys clearly weren't at ease with the situation.

"Did you want a piece, Draco?" Sarah asked and Draco paled even more, if possible.

"No, thank you, milady!" he eagerly declined and she girl smiled. So easy to intimidate them.

"Milady, if you require anything, really anything… just a word and…" Lucius began, but he was cut off.

"Don't even try Lucius, you won't get in my good graces… be grateful that you aren't in my bad ones yet." He gulped at her words and did the first prudent thing that day – choosing to say nothing.

After her snake had finished, Sarah laid it around her neck and left the room to wander around the manor. The muggles she'd lived with had by no means been poor though it was nothing in comparison with the Riddle's fortune. Her fortune, the girl reminded herself. She now had her own vault in Gringotts filled to the edges – enough to support her for multiple lifetimes.

Somewhere between the second and third floor, her companion had fallen asleep on her tongue now flickered in- and outwards of her mouth, touching Sarah's neck. And thought her snake was poisonous, she wasn't afraid of being bitten by her. Though it had happened once when Sam had had a particularly happy dream.

Apart from the Malfoys, her father and herself only Greyback and a few lower-ranking minions were living in the manor. The fourth floor was belonging entirely to the Dark lord and his daughter.

So it was no surprise when a voice called out to her in the snake's tongue.

" _Daughter, come here for a moment_ " and like the dutiful daughter she was, Sarah obeyed and went into her father's office. **(AN: When they speak Parseltongue, it will be written in cursive letters)**

" _I have made plans to institute Severus as the new headmaster in school, along with the Carrows as teachers…_ " inwardly and carefully hidden behind her thick mental walls she shuddered at the thought of the famous death eater couple in a school.

" _…_ _I think it is wise if you spent the year at Hogwarts to keep an eye on the students. I feel it's likely that some of Potter's closer friends feel the need to rebel against the new staff; especially mindless Gryffindors..._ "

It seemed to be a prudent idea, although she'd already taken the OWLs under a different surname. It was the same procedure as if someone was being home-schooled only Sarah had taught herself and submitted it to the ministry instead. They had then graded her work which had received Outstandings except in Herbiology and Divination – Expectations Exceeded and Dreadful.

" _What about the meetings or missions?_ "

" _You'll spend most of the time at Hogwarts, but can attend the meetings and maybe minor missions._ "

That seemed acceptable. Sarah'd never disliked school because she was doing well and although it hadn't been her wish or dream to constantly study, she understood why she had to.

" _And alert me immediately, if Potter gets into the castle._ " Of course, the Horcrux was there, as well; that had briefly escaped her mind.

" _How many of them are left?_ " she asked him; he'd told his daughter that there'd were seven.

" _Six, the diary is lost. But I plan on making sure that the horcruxes are safe in their location._ " He hissed. His daughter might know about the horcruxes, but not about their location. It was not that he didn't trust her, but rather that it wasn't safe for anyone except him to know everything. Divide and conquer.

" _I entrust you to organize the hunt for Potter, my daughter_ " he knew she would competently complete this assignment.

" _Of course father, it will be done._ " Sarah nodded both to Voldemort and Nagini and left. Sam was still deep asleep on her shoulders. Maybe she shouldn't have given her so much to eat….

Sarah knew exactly who could do the tedious work of owling all the death eaters: Lucius Malfoy. He certainly didn't have that much to do since he wasn't a high-ranking death eater anyways. And she assumed that the task was simple enough.

As it happened, they – Draco, Lucius and Narcissa were in their living room, probably to get away from the corpse that was still lying on the table; what was left of it anyway.

"Lucius, I have an assignment for you." Said man quickly stood up and bowed.

"Yes, milady?" he was the perfect picture of someone eager to do whatever is necessary to not receive any negative attention.

"I need you to owl every death eater to ask them whether they can fly while fighting. Tell those who can, that they are to come to the Manor tomorrow evening at 7pm sharp. And only owl those who we can trust to keep their mouths shut – so no low-ranking scum."

"Yes, milady. Certainly, milady!" he nodded with enthusiasm, but it was never wrong to give him some extra incentive.

"I do hope you do exactly as told, otherwise there will be consequences..." Stoking Sam's head, Sarah watched as Lucius nodded and bowed again.

"Draco, you can fly, can't you?" her gaze fell upon the young Malfoy heir. She didn't know him very well; though it was enough to see that he wouldn't participate in the upcoming attack. And as expected, his mother came to her son's help.

"I'm sure you have more qualified people to attack that Potter boy, milady." Narcissa knew neither of them could outright refuse an order by the Dark Lord's daughter – he's made it clear that her orders were to be carried out as if they were his own – and so she had to settle for that mere attempt. Sarah, of course, saw it as what it was, but chose not to say anything.

They required the best men at this job, and Draco most likely wouldn't give his best or would hesitate.

" _Coward.."_ the girl hissed in Parseltongue so they wouldn't understand them, but the Malfoy's apparently got the message anyway as Lucius hurried out of the room to get started while the other two were eying me warily.

Sarah didn't let herself bother by that, sat down on the couch, lifted Sam off her shoulders and placed the snake on her lap to trace the intricate pattern on its skin. This treatment woke Sam and she pressed her head against Sarah's hand, clearly enjoying the treatment.

Now she had to think about how to capture Potter which required coming up with an intricate and fool proof plan…. And silence.

A pointed look later, Draco and his mother lefts the room, because they suddenly remembered they had forgotten something.

\- Skip -

The bell of the old wooden watch in the dining room rang seven times, one time for each hour. Seven o'clock pm. Sarah Riddle stood by the wall on the one side of the room, facing the 40 death eaters who were quietly talking amongst themselves; when the girl started talking, it was silent in an instant.

"Is this everyone?" she asked and Lucius nodded.

"Yes, everyone who owled back." to be honest, the brown-haired girl had expected more, but she hoped that quality would subdue quantity.

There were Bellatrix, Rockwood, Yaxley, Snape, Rudolphus to only name a few, apart from those whose names she didn't quite remember because she'd never seen them.

Nevertheless, they were too few.

"I want every third of you to imperius someone to help us in a week. And I don't care who, just make sure that they are skilled and not known to the broad public. We can't risk someone known to disappear..." she paused, making sure everyone had understood.

"... for this mission we'll most likely have to face the best, most skilled and deadliest Aurors... if anyone wants to step out, now is his chance." That the chance also involved torture went unmentioned. But no one did.

She looked into the round.

"For those of you who don't know. We have intelligence that in one week, Harry Potter is scheduled to be moved from his house in Little Whinging to a safe house of the Order of the Phoenix. We are to make sure he never arrives there." This time, no cheers followed as everyone knew of was beginning to get the importance of this mission. And what they were to lose if they failed.

"They'll most likely use brooms, though Yaxley" she nodded towards the older wizard "has...persuaded some of his contacts in the ministry to monitor other means of transport as well. Any questions, so far?" No one spoke.

"The house of Potter's muggle foster parents is heavily warded, so we'll only be able to attack once they are already airborne. I am responsible for the tactics of this attack and if anyone spots a weakness in them, I want to hear it. Those who deliberately choose to stay silent will face punishment. Those who contribute won't...We'll divide ourselves in two groups forming two circles, one surrounding the other. The ones in the middle will be men and women with slower brooms but more duelling experience. Around the first group will be those on fast brooms to prevent Order members from escaping. If you must, buy new brooms, but be subtle about it. Yes, Rudolphus?"

A middle-aged man with a short beard spoke up.

"How many enemies are we talking about?" Sarah had expected that question; the man had the reputation of a good tactician.

"They will most likely be a small group, about one third of forth of our strength. That's why the two groups will be also divided into smaller groups of three or four. They'll keep each other's back clean and go after smaller prey. Remember, no one on one fights. Moody will most likely be there and the other members of the Order aren't bad duellists either. Overwhelm them and take them out one by one! They'll most likely stay in a group to protect Potter or split up to target us from multiple sides. Be smart and flexible about this! Two of you will stay closer to the ground to catch anyone who's been injured and fallen off their brooms."

There was one last thing to be told before they went into the details.

"If anyone spots Potter, they are to call the Dark Lord immediately. Either with the mark or personally, whatever is faster. Remember, he is to be Potter's killer." From the look of their faces, they'd understood - they'd heard often enough.

During the next two hours, they divided themselves into groups and discussed the tactics more deeply: What the weather would most likely be like, who would be suited best in which position, the most likely destinations of Potter and his followers and where to apparate when injured. Some of the death eater's women were quite good at healing charms and most people would forget what happened to the injured. One or two minor flaws were pointed out and corrected and by the time the evening had ended, the plan was standing.

Of course, Sarah had told her father about the plan earlier that day since he was a part of the operation as well; he'd approved with an evil smile.

" _We'll avenge him..."_ he'd hissed.

" _I know…"_ she'd answered.

When everyone had departed, Sarah went to see Draco; he turned out to be in his room.

Thought she had the right and the power to just walk in, the girl chose to be more respectful than necessary and knocked, then waited three seconds before walking into the room.

"What the he... oh, sorry, milady." He didn't wear a shirt for whatever reasons and Sarah had to admit that he had a well toned body, though it didn't attract her in that way.

"I came to give you your assignment. You're one of the medics in the Manor to help treat the injured. You know healing charms?"

"A few."

"Good, make sure to learn some more before the attack; research them if necessary. We'll need them." The best death eaters against the best of the Order; there were sure to be some injured if not worse.

He nodded and Sarah sent him a small smile which caused him to relax a little.

" _Are you in love, mistresss... sssmiling at the boy?"_ Sam quipped up from the ground next to her.

" _Definitely not, too cowardly... But he'll work better if feels at ease and doesn't think of the pressure."_ The snake hissed amused while Draco was looking at them curiously - he wanted to know what they were talking about, but knew better than to ask.

Sam let out a hiss that sounded to Sarah like she was laughing whereas to Draco, it sounded like the opposite.

Over the next few days, the death eaters met two times to practice the manoeuvres and tactics for the impending attack, so they wouldn't collide with their colleagues while the wives and Draco were preparing healing and strengthening potions...

By the day of the attack, they were prepared and ready when being called to the Manor for final preparations. Everyone was suiting up for the mission, which meant putting on their death eater robes and masks; all had brought their brooms, ranging from Cleansweeps to Firebolts.

Sarah herself was in her room, preparing as well.

"You look dassshhhhhing, mistress..." Sam hissed as Sarah was putting on her mask. It was the same as most of the death eaters usually wore, but hers had green strains woven into it, indicating her rank, heritage and position.

"Thanks." she gave the snake a smile.

" _Be careful._ " The girl told Sam.

" _Ssssure thing... watchhhh out yoursssselfff asss well... Sssseeeee you in a few hoursss_ " she hissed back.

Before Sarah left the room to join the rest of her father's followers, she turned around one last time.

" _Keep an eye open in the manor, will you? And don't eat the meat in the kitchen, it's for the celebrations!_ " They both knew that the snake would get more than her fare share later; she always did.

Sarah didn't go downstairs right away, she went to her father's room first; he didn't need to prepare, Merlin, he didn't even need a broom to fly! When his daughter knocked, Voldemort looked up.

" _Make sure the death eaters are prepared. We'll depart at dawn._ " Snape had told them that the Order was scheduled to arrive two hours past dawn.

" _Sure_ "

The death eaters downstairs were ready and talking to each other - some standing around with no expressions on their faces, no doubt imperiused - but fell silent when their leader's heir spoke up.

"Departure in 15 minutes, get ready!" Hastily, everyone checked their brooms and equipment one last time before Voldemort entered the room.

"My friends, tonight, we will see that the Order perishes and the boy who lives dies by my hand." There was nothing else to be said.

Each present person proceeded to cast an desillusion-charm on himself and those who didn't know the spell or on the imperiused ones - they couldn't count on the darkness to hide them from unwanted watchers.

Then they went outside, Voldemort and his daughter at the front and mounted their brooms. Voldemort was the first to take off, others followed suit. Sarah positioned herself on the rear to watch their back. She was flying a Firebolt and thus would be in the outer ring.

The flight took one hour and to say that it was warm outside would be a drastic overstatement. Luckily, Sarah had chosen to wear fingerless gloves that covered her forearms and left enough feeling in the fingers to properly wield a wand. A warming charm did the rest.

They arrived at their destination, an inconspicuous house in a small town next to Little Whinging. Now Pettigrew's job began. He handed his broom to the closest death eater and turned into a rat: The perfect way to get close as close to the Potter's house as the surrounding charm allowed it without being detected. He would remain there until the Order arrived and alert us. Then we'd hide above the clouds.

We entered the house where Samuel, a relatively young death eater was already waiting for us. The building had been inhabited by an old couple until a week ago; now they were dead.

"Uuuhhh, muggle things..." Bellatrix was laughing childishly, looking around in the house and promptly throwing the toaster on the ground. As far as I've heard, she was always like this right before an attack.

Now, we only had to wait for our trap do its work. Everyone spent the time differently: some were destroying all the muggle things they could find - of course charms had been placed on the house that prevented others from noticing us - whereas others just talked amongst themselves. Crabbe and Goyle were in the kitchen.

50 minutes later, a rat entered the door and turned into Pettigrew.

"They are at Potter's house now!" the animagus himself had the task to prevent anyone from hitting the ground and take injured to the manor.

The words did their magic and everyone grabbed their brooms and headed outside. They'd been over the plan so many times, they knew it by heart - hopefully.

Sarah mounted her broom and with a powerful kick, she was in the air. Pressing herself flat to the broom, the others were left behind as she headed to her position. The partners she was assigned to were Crabbe and Goyle, mostly because all teams should be of equal skill and while Crabbe was decent on a broom but not with a wand, Goyle had good wand skills as well, but he couldn't fly that well.

"Looking forward to killing some Order members." Goyle grunted and he and Crabbe fist-boxed each other.

"Pay attention and get to your positions!" Sarah shouted, angry because such things like a lack of attention on the battlefield could be deadly - and the Order could arrive any minute now.

She let her eyes roam the sky, searching for the rest of the death eaters. With their black clothing, they weren't easy to spot - yet those who were visible were all in the correct positions.

Five minutes passed, six minutes... ten minutes...

Then a group burst through the sky: The Order and Potter. Sarah had to hand it to them; they reacted immediately upon spotting their enemies, spread out and headed into different directions.

So far, the inner circle of death eaters was doing well in containing them. Or that was at least what Sarah could see from her position. But the success lasted only for a brief moment before the first death eater was hit and fell from his broom. This seemed to motivate the Order and now they were breaking through the defences - or rather their attackers.

One pair was racing in the direction where Sarah, Crabbe and Goyle were lying low, followed only by one death eater. When they came closer, she recognized them as a large black man and a boy with black, unruly hair. Shacklebolt and Potter. And they were on - a Thestral?

"Come on!" Crabbe shouted, immediately flying towards. Sarah wanted to shout that he was too close to deflect any incoming curses. He was bad with a wand and at such a distance, he'd stand no change.

"Stupefy!" Potter shouted and his aim was true. Crabbe was falling from his broom, not a scream escaping his lips, stunned. Goyle immediately changed his course to catch the fallen death eater, his best friend, so only Sarah and the nameless death eater were left. Voldemort's daughter was on the verge of pressing the dark mark on her right forearm when she heard the death eater shouting behind her, recognizing him as Samuel.

"There are multiple Potters! Polyjuice potion!" Clever... if Sarah called her father now, she would probably only call him to the wrong target and Potter would get away. No, she would wait until she was sure it was Potter sitting on the back of the animal.

It turned out that Sarah had underestimated the Thestral's speed and the distance between them was slowly growing bigger and bigger. Samuel had it worse than Sarah because his broom was a lot slower than her Firebolt. Soon it were only Sarah and her two targets left, Samuel having been left behind.

The Auror and Potter were now changing directions frantically, trying to throw her off, all while shooting curses at Sarah. The girl had given up on deflecting their curses which would only cost her valuable speed, time and distance. Instead, she pressed herself flat to the broom to minimize the target and simply avoided the streams of light. The longer the chase was taking, the more she was wondering why Potter wasn't flying on a broom when his flying skills were well known and spoken of. She rolled to the side just in time to avoid a stunner. Damn, that had been close! Still, the distance was glowing slightly.

Sarah chose to change tactics and instead pressed the handle of her broom downwards to get to a lower altitude. This new angle would make it virtually impossible for them to hit Sarah and she could avoid falling further behind them by avoiding curses. Somewhen, they had to reach their destination and stop! She only had to wait and be patient.

Apparently, they had noticed her strategy and turned sharp right, giving Potter a possibility to cast another curse at her. She avoided it, again only by centimetres. The boy-who-lived, or whoever was sitting behind Shacklebolt had a good aim, Sarah had to give it to him. Now a second target would be quite useful.

Why had Goyle flown after Crabbe, they had death eaters who were supposed to catch them! Goyle, however, was supposed to help Sarah hunt Order members! She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as the Thestral was turning again and another curse was fired, right towards her!

"Protego!" she hardly managed to deflect it with her wand this time, having barely had time to point in the right direction.

But it cost her speed and she pressed herself against the broom again, pushing it to full speed. But it appeared that they were slowing down and losing altitude - Sarah followed their movements. Yes, they were definitely nearing their destination and she was closing in on them. 200 metres were becoming hundred... ninety... eighty.

Then she hit something and everything went black.

Hermione had thought they'd never lose the last death eater who was following them. So far, he'd managed to avoid all her curses while Shacklebolt was busy flying the Thestral. But at least, they didn't have to bother with avoiding curses themselves as their follower apparently had trouble keeping up with them.

It had been a relief when the Auror sitting in front of her announced that they'd pass the protective shield surrounding the safe house in a few minutes. From that barrier, only 400 metres lay between them and the portkey and so they'd slowed down and reduced their altitude.

Their follower apparently was smart and went lower as well to keep the angle, but used their reduced speed to catch up to them. But it didn't matter, as he wouldn't be able to get past the shields.

Suddenly, Hermione felt the magic shift around her and knew that they'd reached their safe haven. In front of her, Shacklebolt exhaled the breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding.

Hermione looked behind her again and saw their opponent still following them, before he crashed into the barrier which to him was in fact quite a solid wall. Limply, he fell the last twenty metres towards the ground which he hit quite hard. He didn't move. With a little luck for him and bad luck for them, he might have survived.

"He's hit the shield and is out cold!" she shouted against the wind crashing against her face.

"We're clear!" Surprisingly, Shacklebolt turned the Thestral around and flew back.

"What are you doing? We should get to the Portkey!" Hermione shouted, but he didn't change direction.

"They knew we'd move tonight. Someone must have leaked it, maybe he can tell us who it was! We might not get another chance like this..." he shouted back and upon looking on the limp body on the ground, "let's hope he survived!"

They landed about 50 metres from the death eater and got off their means of transport. With their wands at the ready they advanced.

"Keep an eye on the sky, we might have other followers!" Shacklebolt advised and Hermione nodded.

From a distance, the black Auror cast a stupefy on the fallen death eater to make sure he was out cold and not only pretending so he could kill them in surprise. You never knew how far death eaters would go to archive their goal.

Carefully, they stepped out of the protective shield and Shacklebolt went to his knees to check the body while Hermione kept watching the sky.

"He's heavily injured, I can heal some of the serious wounds her so we can transport him!"

"Then make it fast!" Hermione urged, not quite feeling save outside the barrier.

Shacklebolt began muttering spells and complicated charms while moving his wand over the death eater's body. One of the legs that had pointed in the wrong direction snapped back into place. But the 'stupefy' prevented him from waking up.

"Incarcerous" the Auror said and ropes appeared out of nowhere, wrapping themselves around the ankles of their enemy and binding the hands to the body.

"Let's see who you are?" Shacklebolt muttered and pointed his wand at the mask still obscuring their follower's identity from them. The mask vanished and to be truthful, neither of them had expected what they were seeing now.

The death eater was in fact a woman- no, a girl, who looked barely of age. She had dark brown hair, which was bound into a French braid which surrounded her bloody face.

"Damn. Voldemort must have changed his recruitment policy..." he cursed and Hermione gulped. That meant they had to fight against teenagers now - children who weren't allowed to drink or vote!

Snapping out of their momentary trance, Shacklebolt picked up the girl's wand, levitated the body with his own and they went back into the protection provided by the shield. Neither of the two talked on their way to the house, the shock and relieve of having survived still in their bones.

For Hermione, it was strange to see someone her age fighting for You-know-who's side. Well, she did fight for one side as well, but she had never encountered someone like her on the battlefield until now. Shacklebolt was still pondering about what that revelation meant for the Order - was it only a single case of a child soldier or were there others?

As they were approaching, the house turned out to be the exact opposite of the Burrow. Basically, it just looked like every other muggle house in London's suburbs. They knocked three times - their code just in case someone managed to penetrate the shield - and after a few seconds, the door was opened.

The old woman behind it quickly waved them in and looked at the limp body with alarm.

"What happened?" she managed to get out.

"They knew we were transporting Potter today, maybe we can get some intelligence out of her - though I doubt he would entrust her with much information..."

He was interrupted by Hermione who started groaning. The Polyjuice potion was starting to wear off, which wasn't always pleasant. The black hair started falling out, the glasses fell to the ground and it must have been quite a strange and potentially painful feeling to feel the bones shifting, growing and shrinking.

After half a minute, Harry's appearance was replaced be Hermione's.

"Well, don't tell me more than necessary." she looked at the watch. "Hurry! The Portkey activates in half a minute!" She rushed into a room and they followed her. The old bottle of beer was glowing already and they just managed to place their fingers on it before feeling the familiar tuck; Shacklebolt holding onto their prisoner.

Hermione hit the ground hard and the air was pressed out of her lungs. Shacklebolt on the other hand was just standing there, having thrown the body over his shoulder.

"Damn it, you'll have to show me how to do that!" Hermione told him and Shacklebolt grinned, but it was vanished by the fact that they'd been betrayed. And now they didn't know who'd already arrived.

Walking towards the door, Shacklebolt knocked and they were greeted by Remus Lupin, who was pointing his wand at them.

"Professor Lupin!" Hermione exclaimed, but he didn't put his weapon down, eying Shacklebolt with mistrust.

"The last words Albus Dumbledore directed at us?" Without hesitation, the Auror answered.

"Harry's our last hope. Trust him" This apparently convinced Lupin and he put his wand down before exhaling.

"Man, am I glad that you made it... who's that?" he gestured towards the girl.

"Captured death eater, maybe we can get some information out of her."

"Put her onto the couch, we'll do it later. George was injured... the other ones aren't here yet..." he managed a weak smile. "Harry made it."

At that, Hermione raced into the house and towards the loud voices. "Harry!" she jumped at her best friend and hugged him tightly.

"I am so happy you made it!"

"Yeah, me too! Good to see you!" he chuckled.

They then told each other what had happened on their different journeys and how they had managed to get here. In the meantime, Shacklebolt had laid the body onto the floor as the couch was already occupied by a bleeding George. The atmosphere was still tense, because some members were still missing.

The golden trio was complete again when Ron and Tonks appeared. Every arrival was a small celebration, a small reassurance and flicker of hope that everyone would make it. After that, Mr. Weasley and Fred came through the door - both of them immediately went to see George who managed to crack a joke despite his condition. And it was clear that Fred was pretty glad that his brother hadn't lost his humour.

The saddest moment came when Bill and Fleur arrived and solemnly told them that Mad-Eye had been killed by Voldemort himself. They made plans for retrieving his body - without Harry, that is - and discussed what to do now - the topic of Voldemort using child solders worrying all of them.

Then a groan from the ground interrupted them.

Her head hurt. So did her whole body and a groan escaped her lips. This didn't feel like her bed... too hard. Sarah opened her eyes, but her vision was fuzzy like colours were just mixed together with no real shape. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was being in Malfoy manor. No, she'd been flying! The girl tried to stand up, but found she couldn't move. She couldn't move... panic erupted in her chest and she tried again. And again, but the result stayed the same.

Her arms were pushing against some sort of resistance. Not, not simple resistance, restraints! She was bound and by the feeling of it lying on the floor or another hard ground.

As her thoughts became cleaner and cleaner, her vision did so as well. Voldemort's daughter was indeed lying on the floor and her arms and legs were bound. Some faces were staring down at her; she blinked and the faces became those of the Order of the Phoenix: Lupin, Shacklebolt, the Weasleys, Potter, his sidekicks and the giant.

Despite the restraints, she felt hate rushing through her veins, so hot that Sarah could have sworn that her body would erupt in fire. She didn't say anything, thought, because that's what they'd been told to do when captured; hell, she had told the death eaters herself, thinking it would never happen to her.

They lifted her off ground and roughly placed her on a chair. She was still wriggling against the restraints, but they wouldn't budge.

"There's no use in that." the werewolf said and she glared at him, but stopped struggling because there was truth in his words and it would only drain her energy. Instead, she made a quick diagnose of her body and her injuries. Her hands were bleeding and her robes were drenched in blood. There most likely was a cut in her face and bruises all over her body; apart from that, she seemed to be fine.

"We've healed the serious injuries." His voice may not hold any real hostility, but she knew better than to be persuaded by his lack of animosity. They wanted information, which they wouldn't get. She instead used the time to reinforce her mental walls should they use legilimency against her and to observe her surroundings.

She was in a house of some sort, duh. It didn't seem dirty, but a few things were lying around. The atmosphere could have been quite cosy if she wouldn't have been tied to a chair: there were colourful tapestries on the walls and a lot of old, wooden furniture that seemed like heirlooms.

"From where did you know we would move Harry today?" a deep, calming voice interrupted her. Shacklebolt. Sarah glared at him, but didn't answer.

"Let's try again. Who are you and who told you about our plan?" Lupin tried. Same question, same result. Silence. She could tell that the pure hatred in her eyes seemed to irritate some of the Weasleys and the 'golden trio', as Draco called them.

"Don't make it harder than it has to be. Just answer us." Sarah closed her eyes and started humming. An exasperated sigh.

"This questioning doesn't lead anywhere..." when she felt someone coming closer, she opened her eyes, alarmed. But it was just Lupin, bending down so he was now on eye-level with her.

Before he could say anything, though, Sarah spat him in the face. But the result was not one she'd expected; instead he just calmly wiped his face. Potter, however, went red with rage and Weasley and Granger had to calm him down; that drew a smirk on the girl's face.

"Remus" Shacklebolt laid his hand on the man's shoulder. "We can't avoid what has to be done and you know it. I don't like it either, but it's the only way to find out who told them about our plan and to get intelligence that could save lives."

Lupin sighted, stood up and stepped back, a regretting look on his face. When Shacklebolt drew his wand, Sarah started to feel uneasy. The sentence and the wand combined didn't exactly promise something good. Apparently, the others came to the same conclusion.

"Kingsley, you can't just do this!" Granger exclaimed and the Weasley matriarch seemed to share her sentiment. Some of the others seemed to agree with her.

"I have to, Hermione. Trust me, I don't like this either, but it's war. This information could prevent another death like Mad-Eye's today." Ah, apparently Moody had been killed today. Sarah only hoped it hadn't been quick.

"But what about using Veritaserum?" Molly Weasley asked.

"We have someone brewing it, but it takes another month until we can use it. Snape's vials are destroyed because frankly, I don't trust him to give us working potions." Kingsley answered.

Fools, if they still had vials from Snape before he killed Dumbledore, they could have used them – his potions must have worked because otherwise he couldn't have remained a spy for so long.

Her thoughts of revenge were interrupted, however when Shacklebolt pointed his wand at her; she knew what was to come and tried to prepare herself.

"Crucio." He didn't say it with any malice in his tone, but the pain was indescribable nonetheless. Sarah felt like every fibre of her body was on fire, like her legs and arms were ripped from their sockets.

Her tries not to scream failed entirely as the pain was overwhelming her. She screamed in agony, thrashed against the restraints so hard that she fell from the chair, but the torture continued. Sarah didn't know how long it lasted, but she wanted this to stop so badly. Thousands of nails were piercing her skin now, all while being burned alive. Then, it stopped.

Sarah coughed and tried to breath. At first it was difficult, because her body was in desperate need of oxygen that the screaming had robbed her of, but after a few seconds it became easier.

A pair of strong yet surprisingly gentle hands heaved her back onto the chair.

"We will stop if you tell us what we want to know. How did you know about our plan?" Shacklebold asked, but to no use.

"Come on, just tell us. Why do you fight for his side? You don't understand what will happen if Voldemort wins…. We can protect you from him, if you want and if you tell us about his source…"

So they assumed she was blackmailed into doing this… the truth couldn't be farther from it.

When she didn't open her mouth and just glared at all of them with hatred, Shacklebold raised his wand again.

This time, she only lasted five seconds before screams echoed around the room. Sarah tried to calm her mind and retreat into a save place in there, but it didn't work. Heat and coldness shot through her body, creating a most painful combination. Somewhere in her mind, based on the pure need for this torture to stop, a plan formed. Well, not really a plan, but an action.

She purposely fell from the chair because of her convulsing body – not that she needed to help it much – and landed on the floor, writhing and wringing.

Her mind was clouded with agony and the only parts that were still functional screamed for the pain to stop. And there was only one way for it to stop.

Taking all her strength and willpower together, she banged her head against the ground that was made out of stone. Once, twice, three times… the spell was removed from her body and Sarah felt blood pouring from her head, feeling dizzy… four times, five times, six times.

The last thing she felt were hands trying to get her off the ground and to stop her, but one last bang on the ground and she didn't know more.

\- Time skip-

It was unspoken consent that they didn't like having to torture somebody. But they all understood – it could prevent another Mad-Eye. Another death. Yet, neither liked it but nobody had the willpower to just tell everyone to stop.

At least nobody had, until the girl fell off her chair again and started banging her head against the ground. At first, it seemed like a reaction to the immense pain: Often people hurt themselves because it was simply a way to control the hurt that came with it.

So Hermione expected the girl to stop and collapse after the Auror had ended the spell. To her surprise, however, she continued banging head against stone, blood pouring from her face.

"Stop her!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, her face showing utter disbelief and terror, but she didn't need to say it.

Hagrid was already reaching for the girl on the ground to place her back on a chair when she went limp after her head had connected with the floor one more time.

"She's unconscious." He stated, picking the limp body up in his giant arms and gently laying it on the nearby table. Blood was still pouring from the wound on her forehead and Mrs. Weasley rushed to the girl with her wand at the ready, muttering healing charms.

"She needs rest ", nobody dared to disagree, although no one really wanted to continue after what they'd just witnessed.

"Hagrid, take her upstairs to Bill's old room. Bill, you stay with Fleur." Hagrid did as asked, while Fleur and Bill exchanged questioning yet happy glances - despite the situation. The Weasley Matriarch had never allowed them to sleep together in the Burrow.

"I'll ward the room" Kingsley threw in and followed the Giant who was already heading upstairs, leaving the others to ponder about what they'd just witnessed.

\- Skip -


	2. Captivity

Hagrid had chosen to keep watch over the unconscious girl who was now lying on the bed in Bill's bedroom. Kingsley had conjured a chair for him to sit on while said girl was unconscious and Hagrid found himself looking around the room.

It was plastered with posters of various dragons – Hagrid spotted a Chinese Fireball and a Horntail, but even he couldn't name everyone of them. Every now and then, one of the dragons would breath fire towards the photographer, making the giant wonder what had happened to the person who had taken the photograph. Apart from the pictures however, the room was practically bare of any personal items, though a few plants proved that Bill indeed preferred being in the woods and with animals to sitting behind a desk like other wizards would.

After letting his eyes wander through the room, they landed on the captured girl whose wrists and legs were still bound together. He sighted. What had happened to this girl that she would fight for such an evil and unrighteous cause that lead to so many deaths tore families apart. He guessed she had grown up in a pureblooded family, indoctrinated with their lies from a very young age, never knowing anything different.

He regretted not having voiced his disagreement earlier before the torture. She looked so young while sleeping, her face void of the pain and hatred that she had displayed earlier. He wondered if she was truly lost to You-know-who's cause of whether she could be redeemed. For him, she was not a death eater – just a mislead girl. Maybe by talking they could convince her that she'd grown up believing lies. The gatekeeper allowed himself a chuckle. If so, the girl couldn't have landed in a better place: A half-breed, a muggle-born, blood-traitors and a werewolf under the same roof.

He'd been sitting next to the girl for about four hours pondering about this and silently grieving Mad-Eye when she stirred.

He chose to give her the time to orientate herself before talking to her – based on what had happened downstairs it was bound to be a very one-sided conversation anyway. It took the girl several moments to open her eyes, look around, realize what had happened and to test the restraints that bound her – to no avail.

Then she tried sitting up, but failed as her limbs were restrained. Hagrid was about to help her when she tensed and shot him a look that conveyed very clearly that he should stay where he was. So Hagrid gave her time and by the third attempt she was sitting upright.

\- Sarah's POV-

The first thing Sarah noticed when she came to was that her head was pounding and she gritted her teeth as the events of - earlier, yesterday? – came back to her. How long had she been out? She struggled against her binds half-heartedly, hoping they would have come loose when she had been tortured, but it seemed they had not.

Another thing that proved quite difficult when being tied up was sitting up. Right now, she was lying on a bed of some sort in a position that made her feel helpless – she hated feeling helpless.

When she tried to sit up however, she noticed something moving out of the corner of her eyes and tensed up – was she about to be tortured again? She bent her neck to the side and saw that it was the half-giant – Hagrid – who seemed to be getting up. The look on his face conveyed something like pity and Sarah realized that he was about to help her. But she didn't need his pity and most definitely she didn't need his help. Being touched by her captors was about the last thing she needed right now, so Sarah shot him a dirty look. If only looks could kill… But the giant seemed to get it and sat back down on his oversized chair.

Again, she tried to gain momentum to sit up, but to her annoyance, it didn't work.

'Stop it, Sarah. Don't make a fool of yourself. Just do it!' She mentally cheered herself and was pretty sure that this behavior was classified as madness in the early stages.

But nevertheless, it worked for her. After the third try, she was now sitting upright in a – child's room?! She'd expected a dungeon of some sort or at least something that resembled a cell, but instead the walls were decorated with pictured of dragons. Sarah allowed herself a moment to admire them before she forced herself back to reality.

The giant was still sitting, but now he'd started watching her. Creepy, if you asked Sarah.

"What's yeh name?" his deep, raspy voice shook Sarah out of her observation.

"Why do you want to know?" she retorted instinctively, forgetting her earlier silent promise not to say anything.

"Yeh're just 'the girl' for me now. Just thought it'd be better to know yeh name." He explained, still looking at Sarah.

She considered not answering at all, but stopped for a moment. If she didn't say anything, they might torture her again – she shuddered at the very thought – and try to gain information from her. But that game could be played by two parties as well and if they talked, it might be possible to gain some information about the Order to bring them down.

Inwardly, she smiled. All it took for her to escape was a moment alone and a little luck. Sarah hoped that they didn't figure out that she'd been living in a house with an Animagus for two years now. Pettigrew – however dumb and useless he might be – was still a decent teacher and half a year ago, Sarah had managed to transform herself. But the Order didn't know that, nobody except her father and Pettigrew did.

So, it all lead to one conclusion. If she was in what appeared to be a safehouse of the Order or even their headquarter, she could gain information on her enemy.

"Sarah." The giant seemed surprised by her answer.

"How long have I been here?" she followed up and the gatekeeper quickly recovered.

"9, mayb' 10 hours at best. Yeh were out for almos't four hours. By the way, I'm Hagrid."

Sarah nodded. Then she looked him directly in the eyes.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked.

In her mind, the girl had already found the answer to that question. They couldn't let her go because she would rant them out on the first occasion. Obliviating her wasn't an option either, because skilled Legilimens – such as her father - could find traces of the memory that would reveal unwanted intel. And they couldn't keep her in here forever, because she was unnecessary ballast and posed a unbearable risk over a long time. So the only way she was leaving this place in the Order's eyes was in a body bag – if they did bother to put her in one.

The fact that she was still underage didn't matter in this equation – it hadn't stopped them before.

"Of cours' not!" the giant seemed outraged at the mere thought of such a thing.

"Why do yeh think that?!" Sarah didn't answer for a moment and faked an expression of belief mixed with subtle doubts. By the way he had reacted it seemed like he was telling the truth, but she didn't belief that for a second.

"To protect your hideout, perhaps?" she mocked him and Hagrid looked at her sadly.

"We'd never kill someon' so young…"

"But you didn't really hesitate to torture me either, did you?" Sarah's voice was hard and accusing now, leaving Hagrid with no illusions about how she might think about them now. The truth was, if she behaved like a scared and confused little child, the Order members wouldn't believe her and assume she was playing them. Which she intended to to; Sarah just needed to give them what they wanted to see.

She sensed that her guard had a big heart and would be easy to toy with; said half-giant didn't reply to her accusations at first. Bingo.

"Yeh have to believe me, we don't want to kill yeh…" he trailed off, seemingly searching for fitting words.

"Trust you?! For all I know you are just trying to get information before slaughtering me." Sarah said, disbelief and resignation in her voice. That was the straw the gatekeeper should grasp: He should see a way to sway her beliefs, a sign that she was feeling desperate.

And without another word, but with an expression and body-language that conveyed more than a thousand words could have, Hagrid stood up and left the room. Sarah mentally cheered herself, but scowled shortly after.

He could have at least removed the binds on her feet.


	3. Forming a plan

Turns out, lying on a couch while not being able to move properly over a long time is quite boring … and that was exactly what Sarah had been doing for the last 3 hours…. It felt like an eternity.

And so, it was kind of a relieve when the handle of the door turned for the first time since Hagrid had left. Said relieve however was short-lived as Sarah noticed who was standing in the room: A plump, small woman with red, curly hair in her forties or fifties – Sarah was a total loser when it came to estimating things – Mrs. Weasley.

More important however was that this number made her old enough to have fought in the first Wizarding War. Old enough to have participated in the fight against her father, old enough to have belonged to the resistance of the Order of the Phoenix and old enough to have participated in that faithful raid.

"I brought you something to eat, my dear. You must be hungry" she announced. And indeed, the woman didn't come empty-handed and was balancing a tray in her hands; The aroma of stew filled the room. Sarah found herself reminded of her hunger and unconsciously licked her lips.

As the Matriarch of the Weasley family entered the room, Voldemort's daughter noticed that not only had she brought food but also company who remained at the entrance behind her. It was the werewolf, Lupin, who was looking tired and exhausted.

His voice however was firm and determined as he spoke.

"Don't try anything. You are outmanned and outmatched. You won't make it far." While he was talking, he pulled out his wand and with a short flick of his wrist, the restraints vanished.

Careful to stay out of Lupin's line of fire, Mrs. Weasley put the tray on the bed and took a few steps back as if to let Sarah some space, like one would give a cornered animal – the girl was thankful for it but also hated her for it.

"How do I know you didn't put anything in it?" Sarah eyed the bowl with distrust. There was a variety of potions that they could have put in there and she wasn't about to blindly trust them. True, they could have just forced her to down a potion if they wanted to, but a little detail was crucial: If they would have forced her to drink a potion, Sarah could have prepared herself and fight its effects. Here, she wouldn't even be able to identify which kind of potion they might give her.

"You don't. Eat" Lupin ordered, but Sarah didn't move. Her body was yelling at her to eat but her instincts remained in control.

"You first." She responded without batting an eyelash.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed and rushed towards Sarah; she flinched away, the memory of the Cruciatus curse still too fresh and the matriarch's eyes softened. The elder woman took the spoon and ate some of the soup.

"There, see, nothing in there." She looked at Sarah.

"Wait 2 minutes." The girl replied, her eyes not leaving the woman in front of her, taking note of every sign that may be an effect of a potion – most showed before two minutes had passed. But she found none.

Taking the spoon in a hand, Sarah started to eat the soup, careful not to appear to eager - which was quite difficult. Her body needed the energy and it didn't help that the stew was quite delicious.

"Quite good for a last meal." she said after finishing and Mrs. Weasley sighted.

"Hagrid has told us about that. We don't kill prisoners. Let alone children, my dear. You don't have to worry about that…" her voice was soothing, trying to comfort Sarah like a little child that she wasn't. But she had to play her act. Plus, she wanted to know what they planned on doing with her.

"And what's going to happen to me?" she directed her words to Lupin, he stroke her as the kind of man who told the truth. The werewolf hesitated.

"We'll obliviate you and replace your memories. Arrangements are being made for you to live in a muggle family; you won't remember that you are a witch and the death eaters won't be able to find you."

Sarah froze. Of all the answers, that one wasn't what she expected.

"How much of my memories would you replace?" she asked, fear lacing her voice for the first time.

"All of them. But don't worry, we've got someone who was trained to do this sort of things. You won't feel anything and you can live your life in peace."

"Peace my ass!" Sarah shouted and stood up causing Lupin to raise his wand at her. They wanted to take her memories, all of them! All of them! She wouldn't remember being a witch, wouldn't remember the revenge she wanted to take and most importantly she wouldn't remember her brother.

Her brother, who'd died very young because of the Order. Her brother, whom she had loved so dearly despite being so young. Her brother, whom she had watched die in her arms.

She'd rather die than let that happen to her. Sarah was breathing heavily with anger burning through her veins, setting her on fire. She had to control herself not to yell at Lupin in Parseltongue.

"When?" she asked with rage, staring at Lupin.

"In a week or so. We're having a wedding here and the man who will obliviate you will come as well. He'll do it right after the ceremony and take you to your new parents. And your new sister."

He had to know that this was the worst possible punishment for a wizard or a witch. To forget that they were what they were.

She took the pillow and threw it across the room in her fury. The empty bowl was next and splintered into hundreds of shards as it hit the wall. It took another five minutes for Sarah to calm and when she did, the girl broke down crying.

"I'll leave your feet unbound so you can walk around" Lupin's voice was now holding a little sadness, but that didn't matter to Sarah at this moment. Lupin sighed and vanished the shards that were laying across the floor.

After the door closed, Sarah waited a moment, then breathed in and out and allowed herself a faint smile. It had been easy to fake the anger and rage – because it had been real. She hadn't considered this outcome and that was bad, very bad.

Now all of her plan depended on the hope that they hadn't warded this room properly.

Standing up, she took the spoon and a shard that she had slipped in her sleeve, hoping that the Weasley mother thought that Lupin had vanished the first. As a mother, seeing a child being held captive wasn't easy and that's what Sarah was counting on.

The spoon wasn't sharp, but Sarah using it as a weapon was only its secondary purpose. She had noticed earlier that she was in a tall building. And her current 'cell' was high enough that a jump from the window would seriously injure her.

She was now relying on the fact that they would have forgotten to charm the windows not to break.

Closing her eyes and sending a prayer to Merlin she tossed the spoon against the window. Bingo! With a 'clinck' it fell down. But it didn't bounce of as it would have it they had warded the window!

 _"_ _Yes!"_ Sarah hissed in Parseltongue and thrust her fist in the air. The first test succeeded, but there was still the matter of the glass.

Now she took the shard of porcelain and scratched it against one corner of the glass. It left a white trail where glass was peeled off. So, it was breakable, which meant that she could break it (duh.)!

In a rush of euphoria, she kicked, jumped on the bed and celebrated for a moment that lasted until the bedstead broke through. For the people downstairs, it must have seemed like she just had a fit.

Quickly, she hurried over to the window again and hid the spoon and the shard in her sock.

Now, there wasn't much left to do, except planning and hoping that they wouldn't ward the window afterwards.

During the next week or so, Sarah dutifully played her part as a broken prisoner. The first four days, she cried, threw fits and shouted. She even begged once, but as predicted it didn't work. Not that it should have, anyway. Then, she became quiet and let a hopeless look sneak its way into her eyes. She didn't do anything anymore, just lay in the still not fixed bed and planned her escape down to the tiniest detail. Other than that, she spent the time counting the posters and even the scales on the dragons' skins.

And in between, she sharpened the spoon on the walls until she had a weapon. They wouldn't expect such thing from a pureblooded girl who only used magic on her enemies. But Sarah had been very fond of tv shows in her youth and she relied on that now.

By the end of the weak, she had three weapons: The shard of the destroyed bowl, the spoon and most importantly, the pity of the Weasley matriarch.

Mostly, her food was brought to her by the red-haired woman and another Auror. Sometimes, she would give her sweets which she hid under the cupboard. She didn't know how far away she had to travel after her escape and it was best to stash something, just in case.

And she practiced transforming. Sarah had managed to do it without a wand once or twice, but never thought she'd have to without one.

The first day, it didn't work. The second day, it didn't work. But after the fifth day, she managed to succeed in little over fifty percent of the cases which had to be enough.

Because tomorrow was the wedding. Sarah had waited for it, because everyone would be distracted that day and it bore the chance that more Order members were invited. And once she was clear of the wards surrounding the house, she could apparate and call for reinforcements. If Sarah had escaped earlier, they most likely would have fled from the house and evaded capture.

The downside was that she only had one try. If it failed, she had to fight the muggle way to get a wand and take as many of the Aurors down with her.

-Time skip-

At the day of the wedding, which also marked the supposed begin of Sarah's muggle life, she was allowed to eat downstairs after the others had had breakfast. Last meal, indeed. Earlier, she had cried to match the image she wanted to convey – which hadn't been difficult, to be honest. Sarah just had to think of her brother.

Now the girl was sitting on one side of the table with still puffy, red eyes and looked down on the plate before her. A croissant with butter and a cream that they called 'Nutella'. On the opposite side of the wooden table were Lupin, along with Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley. Occasionally, someone else would walk past her, pitying Sarah. She saw it in their eyes.

"You know, being a Muggle isn't bad. You can go to college, to uni…." Granger tried to lift her mood in the uncomfortable silence but stopped when Sarah raised her hand to get her to stop and shook her head – the perfect image of someone who had accepted her fate.

"Would you give up your magic?" Sarah asked the Gryffindor in a defeated tone and the delay of her response was answer enough.

"No…" the brightest witch of her generation replied and left the room in an awkward silence, accompanied by the Weasley's daughter.

"How long until…" Sarah trailed off and looked at Mrs. Weasley.

"The ceremony starts at 4pm. We'll come to you at 8 pm." He answered.

After that, Sarah finished her croissant in silence as nobody quite knew what to say – but there was no alternative. They couldn't move everyone out of the house or send her back to Voldemort without any memories.

They just told themselves that a death eater deserves it. They hadn't even taken a look at her forearms.

So they took her back to her room and left the girl to herself.

Sarah smiled.


	4. Escape

Sarah spent the remainder of the time to calm down and concentrate for Wormtail had taught that this would make the transformation into an animagus easier.

Since the large breakfast, the Order hadn't given her anything to eat and so she found herself getting slightly hungry by two o'clock – which is why she was lying on the bed now, trying to conserve energy.

At three o'clock, Sarah heard squealing and delighted shouts from downstairs, which were followed by something like 'You look beautiful'. Sarah snorted; they'd most likely seen the bride in her dress now. And although the girl didn't doubt that the soon-to-be-married woman didn't look dashing now, she couldn't care less. Weddings were for sentimental people, weak ones who needed to confirm and promise their eternal devotion to one another. True lovers didn't need a spoken promise as it _hang_ between them.

Sarah didn't consider a marriage out of love necessary, only one to enlarge the power of the family. And even then, she wouldn't just marry anyone.

 _"Shut up and concentrate!"_ Voldemort's daughter scolded herself.

 _"You sure as hell have better things to do now"_ But in reality, there wasn't much else she could do in the next hour. Sarah couldn't even practice wandless summoning charms, because there was the risk of Kingsley having installed wards that would detect any magic. And then, she would be really screwed, because certainly they would assign a guard to prevent such things. No, let them underestimate their prisoner.

Yes, she would definitely take her revenge after this, but not like a Gryffindor or a bloody Hufflepuff -if the latter were capable of it. No, she would do it like a Slytherin, lingering in the shadows, waiting to strike in the right moment like the snake she was.

And as it turned out, planning revenge and satisfying herself with these thoughts kept her in a good and relaxed mood until 4 pm. Though if somebody would have come in, Sarah would have looked deeply sad and broken and not a sign of the sinister smile that had graced her face moments ago would be seen.

At four o'clock, indicated by the chiming of the bell in the basement, Sarah was ready and had half a mind to scratch a parting message into the wood, but ultimately chose not to because it would require time; and time was of the essence in this moment.

Standing up from the bed, she took the spoon from her sock. Hopefully this would work.

She gripped the spoon at the edgeless end, listened intensely for a moment to make sure nobody was close-by and then hammered the other end into the glass. It should have broken and shown her freedom.

Only that it didn't. Instead, only a crack was now decorating the window.

 _"No, no, no!"_ Sarah hissed and tried again, but the result was the same. It would take her too long to get through the window, and if she did, the noise would have given her away... If it hadn't already!

Forcing herself to calm down, the youngest Riddle heir told her brain to think.

'Of course!' Quickly, the girl got out of her death eater robes leaving her in black robes. Mentally, Sarah was glad that she had dressed like this in order to avoid the cold that came with flying in a few hundred meters – and that they hadn't taken her robes from her.

She wrapped the fabric around her arm as best as she could and smashed her elbow against the window as hard as she could, right on the centre of the faint lines crossing the window.

 _"Ouch, darn it!"_ red liquid was flowing down her arm, the pain causing her to wince; the pain was quickly forgotten however, when she saw the result.

It had worked! That success gave her the motivation to continue and after one more bow, the hole was big enough to fit through. Not for a human, of course, but rather for her animagus form.

Fortunately, those were the only complications for now, as she transformed. Instead of a young, brunette girl, a pitch-black nighthawk was now standing in front of the window. Once transformed, Sarah fluffed up her feathers and extended her wings. With one flap, she was in the air, circled around the room once to gain momentum. Just before she flew through the window, she pressed the wings close through her body to fit through the broken glass, ignoring the pain that came with it. It turned out that injuries one had before transforming didn't simply vanish when one became an animal.

Moments later, she was free. Well, as free as one could be without a wand and basically surrounded by wizards who wouldn't hesitate to kill her, but it felt good nevertheless.

The nighthawk allowed itself to circle around the highest point of the Burrow to survey the situation; once it had spotted the tents where the celebrations would most likely take place it let out a cry of triumph and changed direction, now heading away from the house and towards the barrier that prevented her from apparating away.

It took her 15 minutes until the magic tingled and shifted around her body and knew that she was clear now. But she kept going for another five minutes to make sure, nobody of the Order even remotely saw her.

When Sarah decided that the distance was now big enough, she flew lower and decreased her altitude until only half a meter separated her from the ground. Then she did, what made the most fun: Transforming in mid air and landing on one's bent feet.

Sarah landed and continued walking to compensate for the remaining speed.

Then, she took a last look at her surrounding, turned on the spot - destination clear in the head - and apparated away.

Voldemort's daughter reappeared in the middle of a storm in front of Malfoy manor and without hesitation walked towards the front gates, which… because she lacked a wand… didn't open for her. Instead, she was reduced to banging against it to trigger the detection charms.

And sure enough, not a minute later, a figure came out of the manor and headed towards her. It was Narcissa Malfoy, who had apparently cast a spell so that the rain and wind didn't affect her appearance. Sarah instead was almost drenched now and so it took the Narcissa a moment longer to recognize her master's daughter.

And while other death eaters might have bowed at her mere appearance and let her in without any question, the woman who now stood at the other side of the gate didn't.

"Prove it." Were her only words and Sarah smiled. Apparently the frosty relationship between them played in her favor now.

"I am Voldemort's daughter." She removed one fingerless glove and showed Narcissa the mark on her right forearm. Draco's mother pointed her wand at the mark to confirm it was real and opened the gates, seemingly content with what she found.

"We have been worried…." She began.

"I am sure you have been. Where is my father?"

"Instructing a death eater task force to kill the minister and take over the ministry. He's in the main room now"

Ah, yes, he'd told Sarah about that…But there was another matter now and Sarah had to tell him about that immediately.

She walked ahead, Narcissa following, through the entrance and made her way to the meeting. Knocking on the door respectfully – Voldemort always appreciated that – Sarah entered the room and whatever talks might have been going on ceased at her appearance.

"My daughter… I am pleased that you are here… we have assumed the worst…" Voldemort broke the silence and stood up to hug her. And admittedly, it was a little awkward, but it was the closest thing to affection she would get from him.

"I was captured by the Order and held prisoner. They planned on obliviating my memories to let me live as a muggle." Several of the death eaters sneered.

"They are having a wedding at the Burrow with several members of the Order now. This is our chance to end him. Potter is there as well." Sarah added, knowing that the last part was particularly interesting for her father.

Voldemort nodded, apparently content with this.

"If it is as you say, the place will be heavily warded and we can't get through without assistance…. And I am certain that once we have taken over the ministry, this power will be at our side."

He turned to address his present followers.

"We proceed as planned. After you have taken over the ministry, attack the location of the Burrow. Use the ministry's ward-breakers to bring the shield to it's knees."

"But.." Sarah spoke in the short break between his words which was just long enough that it didn't count as interrupting him

"… try not to kill anyone just yet. They'll be of more use to us alive, to uncover their allies. Record their identities and place them under surveillance. With the ministries sources and their unwilling help, it will be an easy task to destroy the Order… And retrieve my wand from the Burrow. 10,5'' Vine... If you are the one to bring it back, you will be rewarded."

Sarah looked at her father for confirmation of her orders as he outranked her… and was the Dark Lord for that matter, but he didn't object.

With a final bow, the two to three dozen death eaters left the room.

"You should rest, my daughter. And let the healers have a look at your injuries" Voldemort told Sarah in a silky tone. The Order had only healed her gravest injuries and her face must still look bloody and bruised.

"You did good" were her father's parting words and Sarah felt pride surge through her.

But, the most important thing came first and that wasn't healing her injuries. With quick steps, Sarah walked up to the private floors and straight into her room.

 _"_ _How dare you enter my mistr…. Mistressss!"_ Sam was lying curled up on Sarah's bed, but upon seeing her enter the room, the snake uncurled itself and glided onto the floor and towards Voldemort's daughter.

 _"_ _You didn't think, I'd return? I am insulted!"_ Sarah jokingly hissed and bent downwards to pick her snake from the floor.

 _"_ _No, no doubts at all, Ssssarah. I knew, it wass only a quesssstion of time…"_ Sam's tongue tickled Sarah's cheek and the girl – who didn't miss the use of her given name - gently stroked her head.

 _"_ _Thanks…" "The Order abducted me, held me prisoner and wanted to turn me into a muggle… Not that they ever could have accomplished that"_ Sarah weakly smiled.

Sarah didn't want to admit it, but she somehow needed her snake's reassurance now as she allowed herself to think about what had and could have happened – but it only lasted for a brief moment.

 _"_ _How have things been here?"_ she asked Sam, who was now hanging around her neck, perfectly positioned to strangle her if that had been the intention.

 _"_ _Nothssssing new, mistress. Though I've misssssed my little treats…"_ Sarah smiled – Sam had a sweet tooth, if you say that about a snake.

"I'll get you one later, promise. Right now, I have to rest and take care of my injuries."

And even though Sam didn't seem too happy about either that she didn't get an egg now or that Sarah was injured, she expressed her loyalty and friendship by wrapping herself around Sarah's neck and arm. Like this, they left the room and searched for a healer.

Things were starting to go back to normal…no, they were better.


	5. Assignment

It had taken Mrs. Greengrass less than five minutes to heal all of Sarah's injuries, partly because her snake had hissed at the woman every time she had pointed her wand at one of the injuries. Sam was possessive when it came to her owner and friend.

After that, the cobra had received one of her favorite treats, two eggs which she swallowed with great delight. And although cobras generally could eat the shell as well, Sarah'd removed it beforehand.

Then, almost three hours later, they were lying on the bed in Sarah's room, relaxing from the exhausting day and the captivity. And because there wasn't anything to do. Sarah particularly hated not having a wand, because it meant... well, not having a wand and not being able to participate in raids or help the other death eaters at the ministry. Voldemort's daughter preferred the motto: If you want something done right, do it yourself.

The dozing girl and the snake were woken by a knock on the door. Sitting up and placing Sam next to her, Sarah made sure she looked presentable.

"Come in" she called and a tall death eater in full robes but without a mask entered. It was Rookwood and he gave a short bow when he saw his master's daughter.

"Milady. We have raided and taken over the ministry. Scrimgeour is dead and replaced by Thicknesse. With their help, the Burrow was raided, but Potter and his companions escaped, along with several members of the Order. The remaining ones were let go and are being followed as we speak. And we found your wand."

While he was speaking, Rookwood pulled out a wand and Sarah immediately recognized the delicate piece of wood as hers.

She took it from the outstretched hand and felt a warmth rush through her as if the wand was as happy to be reunited with its owner as she was.

"Thank you, Rookwood , you have proven you loyalty once again. It will be remembered, rest assured of that" Rockwood straightened under Sarah's cold eyes and nodded.

"How many casualties were there?" Sarah inquired.

"Eight are dead, milady, and ten were injured. But they were mostly low-ranking death eaters" he answered.

With a nod of her head and a wave of her hand, Rockwood was dismissed; however, he didn't go just yet.

"The Dark Lord wished to speak to you at the main hall, milady". he bowed once again, not waiting for an answer and went to attend his duties.

After he'd left and shut the door behind himself, Sarah fondly traced her fingers above her wand.

 _"If you continue that, I might get jealoussssss..."_ Sam hissed from the bed and Sarah smirked, but put the wand in her robes and instead stroked the snake's back.

 _"I'll be right back."_ Sarah told the cobra and went to see what her father wanted from her.

As it turned out, it wasn't strictly a thing between the two of them, but Snape was also involved.

 _"You wanted to talk to me?"_ Sarah hissed, eying Snape and asking herself, what he was doing here.

"It's about your education." Voldemort replied in English, motioning with one hand at Snape.

"As you are aware, Severus is going to be the new headmaster of Hogwarts; you will attend the oncoming year there to finish your education and to keep the student in line." Yes, Voldemort had mentioned that fact.

"But as the student body won't recognize your position merely because of who you are, you will be named head girl along with Theodore Nott, who will fill the position of head boy." Snape drawled.

Head girl? She had been told of how things worked at Hogwarts, but had no practical experience with this. Although, given that she planned some - people might even say most - of Voldemorts operations, she should manage that. And there was always her fellow head boy, whom she could ask.

Snape handed her an envelope.

"This contains your badge - you'll be placed in Slytherin without a sorting. It was arranged that all required items for this year will be brought to Hogwarts and your robes will be brought to you beforehand."

"Thanks. How will I get there?" Sarah asked.

"I will accompany you per side-by-side apparation on the first of September. From there, you'll meet your fellow students at the Great Hall."

The girl considered this.

"But... wouldn't it be better if I used the Hogwarts Express to get there? I mean, I should watch for rebellious student, shouldn't I? Wouldn't it be better for me to already watch them on the train?"

"Why do you think so?" Voldemort asked.

"I mean, at Hogwarts, the school is divided into four houses with separate rooms. In Slytherin... well, I can't hear them talking when they are in their common rooms. At the train, I can at least get a feeling for the general mood... you know what I mean?" Sarah finished, looking at her father's and Snape's faces - the latter one was completely void of anything.

"If you with to use the train to get to Hogwarts, so be it. But be careful around blood-traitors and mudbloods. " her father made the decision that she'd expected.

"Thank you , father" Even Voldemort could be manipulated by his daughter - or at least, he couldn't very often say no to her wishes.

"I have chosen to send death eaters to Hogwarts as well, as teachers, to form their minds while they are still young. The Carrows seem suited for this, they have an...affinity for teaching, I think."

At those words, Sarah could have sworn that a ghost of a different expression hushed across Snape's face, but it was gone too quickly as that she could be sure, let alone identify which emotion it was.

The rest of August passed in relative silence, apart from a prisoner transfer from a death eater safehouse to Malfoy manor which Sarah didn't participate in and was only informed of.

Snape's visits to the manor were becoming less and less frequent, because there wasn't any real reason for him to be there. He had to play his part as headmaster and for his position as a secret spy for Voldemort had been revealed in a non too subtle way, he now lacked vital information. And apart from the meetings and Hogwarts, Sarah wasn't aware of the new headmaster partaking in any death eater business.

For the most of the time, Draco and Sarah went their different ways as the former didn't enjoy being left out of conversations in Parseltongue that involved Sam asking Sarah if she could scare the Malfoy hear. And not too often, she received permission, much to the joy of Sarah, who knew that her snake loved her new sport and much to the chagrin of Mrs. and Mr. Malfoy who - at least the latter -knew not to voice their opinion on this too often or at all.

Sarah on her part looked forward to going to Hogwarts. She'd never known anyone of her age apart from Draco Malfoy. Not even other children of powerful families such as the Nott, Zabini or Greengrass heir knew of her connection with the dark lord or had heard from her -which would change soon.

Voldemort himself had wanted to order Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle that their sons should extend their bodyguard duties- which his daughter so eloquently called 'gooning' - which Sarah had refused vehemently ('I will not be followed by two bodyguards that are unable or unwilling to distinguish a dragon from a hippogriff'). She was a better wandwoman and witch than both of them combined.

"Wake up, Mistresssss. Time to go to sssschool..." Sarah was as always woken up by Sam in what felt like the middle of the night. Merlin, she wasn't used to getting up this early - she had been once, but ever since the night where her father came to get her from the Muggles, this habit had been lost.

"...Mmmmm... why are you such an early riser?" The snake move away from her face - she had been flicking her tongue against Sarah's nose - to glide onto the floor.

"One of us has to be, or not?" When had Sam began to become so snippy?

"Now get up, or do I need to ussssse ssomething more... drasssstic..." Immediately, Sarah was out of the bed, despite her tiredness. She had learnt that whenever it came to getting out of the bed, her snake was not to be underestimated - the experience had not been pleasant...

After getting ready for the day, which involved French-braiding her hair, Sarah went downstairs.

Oh, this would be fun.


	6. Hogwarts Express I

Breakfast with Draco turned out to be entertaining - well, from Sarah and her snake's point of view, anyway. Draco meanwhile tried to say as little as possible, because he still couldn't quite figure out the Dark Lord's daughter. Was she as twisted as her father, despite her appearance which suggested differently. Or was she someone who he could actually - maybe just a little - treat as a fellow Slytherin and schoolmate?

For Sarah on the other hand, the matter was clear. She knew of her position and her power - social and skill-wise alike -and enjoyed that the Malfoy heir couldn't figure her out and thus treated her with caution.

Of course, there were more practical uses in that aspect as well. Nobody dared say anything against her for they didn't know how the reaction to their words might turn out.

"Can I go hunting, mistressss?" Sam hissed from Sarah's lap.

"Of course. Departure is in one hour. Happy hunting!" Sarah answered in Parseltongue and her snake flicked her tongue eagerly, slid onto the floor and headed into the direction on the garden.

"Just make sure, you don't eat the peacocks!" Sarah hissed at her, to which Sam turned around and gave her what seemed like a grin.

"No promisssesss...!" With that, she was away and Voldemort's daughter turned her attention back to the Malfoy boy.

"So, you looking forward to Hogwarts?" Sarah asked the blonde on the opposite side of the heavy wooden table. He seemed to consider.

"I reckon after the events of last year, the other houses won't be too happy with me returning." he answered, then took a bite from his buttered toast with eggs.

"Naa... with Snape as headmaster, I don't think they'd dare to do anything. And if they do... well, I am head girl. And I do hate bullying..." Draco swallowed, but not to swallow the food in his mouth. His throat had suddenly become dry because he remembered that that was how he had spent his first six years at the magical school. Well, more like five... he'd been...busy... during his sixth year.

"Head girl. Congratulations." he remarked and Sarah toasted him with her toast.

"Theodore Nott's the other one. Do you know him?" Draco slowly nodded.

"He's in Slytherin." Obviously. "But I hardly know him. He's a quiet guy, likes to be alone. Was always around but at the same time, never quite there." Sarah nodded. The boy he was talking about seemed like an interesting and calculating character, always keeping his cards hidden and careful not to give too much away. She was looking forward to working with him... and to figuring him out, as well.

"Anyone else, I'd need to know about?" Sarah inquired to which Draco shook his head.

"No one of Slytherin. They'll respect you once they know who you are. " He left out that they would probably hate her as well - jealousy of one's position was a big contributing factor.

"Maybe" Sarah saw right through his half-truth. She knew enough about Slytherin to reach the conclusion that blind trust, loyalty and respect were not their strong suits. One had to prove oneself. Earn it. And she intended to do just that.

At half-past ten, they all gathered in the main room of Malfoy manor to get to King's Cross. And while Muggleborns or even some wizards used the means of transport of their non-magical counterparts, those rules didn't apply to the small group - including the snake, which was now digesting a rather fat mouse in the darkness of her bag.

"Everyone ready? Good. Let's go!" Sarah ordered and held out her hand for Lucius Malfoy to take, which he did after a barely noticeable moment of hesitation. Then his cold fingers curled around the Dark Lord' daughter's forearm while grasping the one of his son as well. Sarah took a breath. She hated side-by-side apparation, but as she'd never been at the well-known train station, it was the only option left.

She barely heard their disappearing 'pop' until she was swallowed into nothingness. Well, if it could be nothingness, because if felt like anything but nothing. It felt like she was pressed through various shapes and forms, like her body transformed to overcome the barriers of space - and it most definitely didn't feel pleasant. The sensation of burning alive was swallowed by one of drowning and just before she seemed to actually do that, everything stopped and air rushed into her lungs.

They were at King's Cross. Right into the part that only wizards and witches would ever see. Various people -men and women dressed in muggle clothes or rather colored robes hugged their equally excited children with an air of sorrow and dread around them. But also smiling faces could be seen, undoubtedly of the younger ones that had been spared by all the war and death around them.

Sarah melancholically smiled. Her brother would have liked it. There was no doubt in the girl's mind that the same smile would have graces his face. Oh, what wouldn't Sarah give to actually live the moment where she would lead him into the Hogwarts Express to spent the ride telling him about the castle's secrets.

Sarah quickly blinked a sole tear from her eyes to avoid showing the others her vulnerable side and replaced it with a blank one.

"I'll leave you now, milady." Lucius Malfoy stated and after Sarah had implicitly given him permission to do so, he turned on the spot and vanished.

"You'll sit in the Head's compartment. It's in the front of the train. I'll look for Crabbe and Goyle." Draco spoke up, under his outward mask - which he thought hid his thoughts - relieved that he wouldn't have to spend the ride with his master's heir.

"Go ahead." Sarah didn't watch the blonde Malfoy stride away, but instead walked to where he had mentioned that the head compartment would be. She carefully avoided being bumped into - which wasn't very easy with the amount of people at the trail. Seemed like other families had had the same idea. To come early in order to avoid the trouble that came with crowds.

As she continued on her way, Sarah's gaze slid over the train: It was painted red, black and golden and seemed like from another century. It looked ancient and had a special atmosphere around it.

While looking over the train, Sarah spotted a couple kids - first or second years, maybe - trying to heave their overloaded trunks into an opening on the train's side, but failing miserably. The brunette walked over to them.

"Hey, let me help you." She took her wand out of the pocket, pointed it at one of the trunks and cast a silent 'Wingardium Leviousa'. And as she levitated them into the storage unit, Sarah couldn't help but smile at a boy's and girl's face. Yeah, those two were definitely first-years. Sibling, by the looks of it, or maybe close friends: The boy had blonde hair that covered his forehead while the girl's hair was a shade darker and barely reached her shoulders.

"Cool" the boy was shocked while his apparent sister's eyes were wide and she was obviously restraining herself from jumping up- and down.

"You are a witch?! Stupid question, obviously. Can you do some more magic. What is the school like? Is everyone there a wizard? I am Lucie and this is my brother Jacob. It's our first year and we are sooooo excited." The girl went on rambling, then stopped herself after having noticed the amused look on the older girl's face.

"Sorry, I was babbling... well, I am excited. Who are you?" Lucie asked, releasing her brother's hand which she had subconsciously grabbed in her excitement - and by the look on her brother's face, he was quite relived that blood could flow through it again. Her sister sent him an apologetic look.

"I am Sarah. Believe it or not, this is my first year here, too. And I am just as excited as you to see the castle!" Sarah had now dropped most of her facade as she talked. "But if you need help or anything, don't hesitate to come to me." The sibling eagerly nodded.

"Sorry, gotta go now. But I'll see you at the sorting! By the way..." she turned her voice into a whisper "... don't believe everything you hear about it. Someone I know likes spreading rumors about the sorting to scare you. The most you have to do is to put on a head. Nothing more..." And with a wink, Sarah turned around and continued to the heads compartment.

Luckily, she didn't have to carry anything at all as her Hogwarts uniform was already hanging in the Head compartment of the train and all her other things were already at Hogwarts. So now, Sarah was free to walk to the compartment without a bag, just in quite expensive wizard robes.

After having taken a few minutes to look over the crowd for a familiar face - for example an member of the Order of the Phoenix who she could capture or at least spy on -capturing someone in such a populated area probably wasn't such a good idea.

"Umpff, watch where you're going!" a girl's voice yelled. Sarah had just been about to board the train when she had taken a last look over her shoulder when someone had bumped into her. Yes, bumped into her and not the other way round!

She turned around to look at who she collided with and was met with a brown-haired girl who looked like a pug. Sarah looked her over. She was wearing new shoes which matched her clearly expensive clothes - and if that didn't give her away, her attitude certainly did.

"Sorry" Voldemort's daughter replied in a tone that conveyed clearly that she was anything but. And the girl seemed to notice and stepped closer into Sarah's private space.

"Are you new? You don't seem familiar and trust me, I don't forget someone like you..." she obviously tried to sound menacing and intimidating, but failed miserably.

"I suggest, you go out of my way now or you will face the consequences. Or do you not know who I am?" Sarah met the girls eyes in a silent challenge.

And just as the silence was about to become unbearable, the girl who looked like a pug seemed to suddenly forget her opposite as she clearly spotted something much more important to her.

"Drakiiiee" she squealed and ran past Sarah, not without bumping into her however; Sarah however didn't bother looking around to see whoever 'Drakieee' was (although she had a very good guess at his identity), but instead boarded the train.

Once inside, she turned right and headed to where she had been told the head compartment was located. But she wouldn't be her if she didn't check all the compartments... although she didn't suspect Potter and his two best friends were dumb enough to go to school during this year, one could never know. Because sometimes, the stupid Gryffindor bravado made people do the stupidest things which, as her father had told her, managed to cross the best plans.

However, the only thing she discovered were some excited first-years who were quite intimidated by some older student talking to them - but one smile from Sarah set them on ease, some kissing Hufflepuffs, reading Ravenclaws. In short: All the house stereotypes in one train.

Sighting, she knocked on the next compartment, which thankfully was one of the last ones.

"Yes" a female voice answered and Sarah opened the door

"Excuse me, is this compartment still..." she stopped in the middle of her sentence, because she knew this girl. Red hair and freckles: a Weasley.

Sarah could literally watch the girls expression shift from boredom to confusion, thoughtfulness, recognition and then hate and repulsion. She clearly recognized Voldemort's daughter from when she was captured and lying on the floor, shouting in agony.

The Weasley's hand was moving towards her wand, but Sarah was faster - because unlike others, she liked being prepared and in precognition had hidden the wand in her sleeve to have faster access to it.

"Petrificus totalus" she whispered, drawling out the words so that the red-haired girl in front of her wand knew what was coming, not being able to defend herself in time. Some might say it was cruel, others might say, torturing a teenager was cruel as well...innocent or not.

The spell hit its aim and Ginny Weasley 's body froze in her current position, restraint by invisible body that prevented every single muscle from moving, effectively freezing her alive.

"Well, hello, Ginevra, is it? Do we know each other? Oh, wait, I think we do, don't we?" Sarah stepped in and locked the door with a swish of her wand.

"Long time no see? Tell me, how did your precious Order react when their prisoner broke out? I bet they weren't happy, because they couldn't torture me anymore? Were they? Come on, answer me."

Voldemort's daughter silenced the room so no one could hear the girl and then lifted freed the girl's face from the Petrificus totalus.

"What do you want?" Ginny spat "Who are you?"

"Oh, that Gryffindor bravery, there it is!" Sarah mocked. "What I want? Hmmm, let's see... I have you here at my mercy, the compartment is locked and nobody outside can hear you... why don't I repay what you've done to me in your home? The burrow, wasn't it? No, don't worry, you see..."

Sarah leaned closer to the Weasley's face.

"... compared to your lot, the Order of the Phoenix, I actually am above torturing children. But let me tell you: You can write your parents, if you want... hell, you can write the whole Order that I am at Hogwarts, because like the castle has been a safe haven for you the past five years, it is no mine. And do you know what the best thing is? You cannot even escape, because if you do, I'll have a reason for going after your parents and finally get my revenge for what they've done in the last war and this one."

"And why would you care? You think you are better than us? You are just a death-eater bitch, a pet of You-know-who!" You.." Sarah quieted the girl with a flick of her wand.

"You know, I'd very like to have a conversation with you, but unfortunately, I've got business to handle. I hope your friends find you soon enough, wouldn't want your back to hurt if you have to stay like this the entire time..." she sneered and left the compartment.

Outside the door, Sarah breathed in and out and allowed herself a smile. That had felt good and it was something that had needed to get out of her. Now, she felt good...powerful...and like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

But as Sarah spotted some other pupils, not Slytherin by the looks of it, coming in her direction and looking for a free compartment like she had pretended to do, Sarah decided to walk along because she didn't want a serious fight. Well, at least not before actually setting foot into Hogwarts.

She stopped in front of the door that had a label on it which read "Head compartment" and entered the same moment as she felt the train starting to move and almost lost her footing.

The compartment was empty, save for the sole guy sitting in the seat next to the window, emerged in a book called 'Politics and power: A guide to sure success".

When he more heard than saw someone enter the compartment and close the door, he closed his book and stood up to look her over. Sarah did the same and for a moment of two, one could see two Slytherins mustering each other, looking for weaknesses, but neither finding one.

After a even longer moment, the boy spoke up.

"Theodore Nott, heir of the Nott family"

"Sarah Riddle, heir of the Riddle's" his only reaction to her name was to lift an eyebrow. And though neither of them said anything else, one thing was clear from their first encounter: mutual respect...or rather, caution.

Theodore of course knew who she was the moment he had heard her name, which she shared with the Dark Lord. And he knew that she'd be a powerful ally.

Sarah on the other hand was intrigued by him as she saw the prime Slytherin values in him: to wait silently for a mistake and to observe until the right moment had come... the quiet one's were often the most dangerous ones who mustn't be underestimated.

So they sat down, opposite of each other - Theodore opening his book once again and Sarah looking out of the window.

"So... you got to tell me... what are our duties and rights as heads?" Sarah asked after half an hour must have passed. Theodore looked up.

"During the train ride? Apparently, we just have to fill in the other prefects on what duties they have: Guiding the first years to the common rooms and explaining their house to the first years. During the rest of the year, we mostly have to patrol the castle, but every year the headmaster or the vice-headmaster invites the heads to discuss this further."

"Who are they?" Sarah inquired.

"Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein for Ravenclaw. Ernie McMillan and Hannah Abbot for Hufflepuff, Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson for Slytherin. They were in our year." He didn't mention the Gryffindor prefects which had to mean that he thought the same as she did: Potter and his friends were not on the train.

Contrary to Draco's stories, Theodore Nott apparently had no problem with talking to others, Sarah wondered. But after he'd spoken and turned his attention to his book again, she knew what the Malfoy heir had meant.

After another hour had passed in silence, Theodore put his book down and stood up. A little hesitation gave it away that he was waiting for Sarah to do the same. Apparently, they now went to instruct the other prefects, but she didn't know for sure.

The stringy boy walked ahead, leading Sarah to their destination. Voldemort's daughter for her part didn't mind the fact he was leading the way, despite the fact that she technically was higher in the pureblood and social hierarchy. It was quite refreshing, actually, because at the moment, Sarah regarded him as an ally and his willingness to lead the way was the perfect way to hide her nescience of Hogwarts procedures.

They arrived right on time and when they entered, a small crowd met them with different expressions.

"Two Slytherin heads? Figures..." one boy called out and his statement was met with nods and approving whispers.

Sarah didn't know who the boy was, but she mentally made a note that he apparently was quite outspoken and did so without thinking... Gryffindor, probably, with a Ravenclaw streak because apparently he was observing enough to recognize Sarah's behavior as that of a snake. No... he probably just had a big mouth and assumed things...Yes, Sarah settled for the last.

And while she stood behind Theodore, silently observing the prefects from different houses in front of her, her fellow head boy was apparently content with explaining the duties to the prefects.

Sarah also noticed that despite the general anti-Slytherin attitude in the other houses that had become obvious just moments ago, everyone was silent as he spoke confidently... he had a knack for getting people's attention...and keeping it.

Well, everyone's attention, save one girl's. The pug-faced girl who Sarah had met earlier was now standing next to Draco and glaring at the brunette head girl with contempt and hate.

Sarah however just met her eye and teased the girl by a barely-visible smirk, causing the girl's face to turn red.

Then, she turned her attention back to Theodore, who was now explaining to the prefects what they were supposed to tell and show the first years.

And apparently, Theodore had been right, there wasn't a lot to tell them and after he'd set a date for the next meeting, all was said.

"...if you have problems with your duties or schedules, come to us or go to your head of house. Questions?"

The pug-faced girl apparently was on the verge of saying something, but Draco lay a hand on her shoulder and she decided otherwise.

"Good" Theodore finished the meeting and together, he and Sarah walked back to the compartment, side by side this time.


	7. Hogwarts Express II

Gravity and inertia almost caused the book to slip off Sarah's lap, right when she was reading her favorite passage in the new spell book. Theodore looked up from his book as well and glanced at Sarah.

"What's going on?" he asked and the girl didn't have an answer to that, so she shook her head.

"No idea, but I figure it's my father's followers. Wait for me here." Sarah stood up and went out of the compartment and apparently wasn't the only curious one with that idea.

"Get in your compartments, now!" she commanded and took out her wand as if to reinforce the seriousness of the situation. In reality, however, it was now dawning her that two hours was enough time for a certain Ginevra Weasley to send an owl, informing the Order that their former prisoner was on the train. And while she might have not exactly told the red-haired girl who she was, she knew the identities of most of the Order's men now and actually had proof for that.

This in mind, Sarah had her wand at the ready when she made her way towards the beginning of the train. And as it turned out, this came in handy, because right before she reached the forward entrance, it was opened and a death eater stormed in, spotted her and immediately shot a spell at her.

Sarah snapped up her wand and conjured a shield on which the spell harmlessly bounced off. She felt however, that it was a dark spell from the way her shield reacted to it.

"Stop it, now, you fools! I am on your side!" this caused the death eater to stop in the middle of the next wand movement.

"Ah yeah, prove it!" he demanded, not lowering his wand an inch.

Careful not to divert to much attention from the death eater which would leave her open for an attack, Sarah took her wand in her left hand and slowly lifted her right arm causing the sleeve to reveal her forearm - and her dark mark.

The death eater in front of her started for a moment, then seemed to remember where he was, more importantly who he was with and lowered his wand.

"I am sorry, milady, I didn't recognize you." He turned his head around and called over his shoulder "All clear." Now that the threat was momentarily averted, Sarah took in his appearance: He was a tall man, his silver-black hair was tied into a firm ponytail. He didn't seem familiar.

At his call, two more death eaters appeared, one middle-aged man with quite a handsome face which was decorated with two slash-marks on his face. The second one was relatively young and Sarah recognized him after a second look - it was the one who had already been in the muggle house when they tried to capture Potter.

"Samuel." she greeted him and he bowed.

"Milady, we are sorry, nobody told us you were on this train." he apologized.

"Neither did I know of your little raid here. Who gave you your orders? And who else is here?"

"The Dark Lord ordered the search, milady, to find Potter. We three are the only one's"

That was odd and most certainly didn't wear her father's handprint on it. He would have send more than three death eaters to the train if he wanted to capture Potter - true, Potter would be a fool to let his sorry ass be seen on the train, but her father had always been known for his... overkill.

"Are you certain, that he directly ordered to search this train?" Samuel glanced at the bearded death eater.

"Did he?!" I asked the tall man directly now as he obviously was the leader of their small group and he shook his head, looking directly into Sarah's eyes.

"No, milady. He ordered us to search for Potter and the train seemed like a good place to start." he tried to excuse himself.

"Then go ahead.." Sarah said and made room for the three of them to go past her. Hesitantly, they did, as if they couldn't believe the punishments from the Dark Lord were so significantly different from those of his daughter.

"If you are finished, come back here, will you?" She said sharply as they were almost out of earshot. They didn't answer directly, but the hitch in their steps was indicator enough that they had understood her very well.

"What is going on here, why are those men stopping this train and searching it?!" a squeaky male joined and as Sarah whipped around wand at the ready, the picture that she saw didn't match the voice she heard at all.

In front of her stood a short man in a conductor's uniform and with a belly that didn't suit him very well. Sarah lowered her wand.

"Nothing that concerns you. Don't let the train depart unless I tell you so, is that understood." He seemed like he wanted to argue, but Sarah cut him off as soon as his mouth opened.

"Listen, I am not in a good mood right now, I was almost cursed by my own men in a raid I didn't know about. And I definitely can't deal with you right now, so please do me the favor, go back to where you came from and do nothing. Until. . ! Understood?"

"Hey, listen, miss, I don't know you, but I've been doing this job since forty years and nobody..."

"Of for Merlin's sake. Imperio!" Sarah pointed her wand at the conductor and all the emotion on his face was instantly washed away and replaced by one of peace. And this time, when she repeated her instructions, he followed them immediately.

Sarah sighted, but put her emotionless mask back on after a few moments. And ten minutes later, the three death eaters came down the corridor and by the looks of their faces they weren't successful.

"And, no Potter?! I could have told you that!" Sarah more or less greeted them.

"We..." the bearded death eater asked.

"Nope, I am doing the talking now. I have to say, it was a splendid idea to waltz into a train full of students - half of which are still young children or in their first or second year. And three quarters of these students, namely Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are on Potter's side, aren't they. And even if most of them wouldn't have fought against you, his closest friends would have to defend him - if he had been there, that is. And you come in marching here with only two death eaters and no reinforcements. I tell you two things now and I suggest you listen closely: There is no scenario where you would have been successful in capturing Potter here. And second, I do hate incompetence very much. Crucio!"

Sarah had lifted her wand and pointed it at the bearded leader so quickly, he didn't even have time to brace himself for the amount of pain that was now forcing him on the floor, screaming in agony. Voldemort's daughter let him learn his lesson for fifteen seconds, then lifted her wand and the curse with it. Sarah turned to the two standing men.

"That was an error you made today. Make sure you learn from it, don't let it become a mistake. Now get out and search for Potter. And if you spot him, wait for reinforcements, do you understand?"

They nodded and left the train in a hurry, eager to escape her cold tone, dragging their moaning comrade with them.

Sarah went back to her compartment after she had released the conductor from the Imperius and erasing what had happened from his memory. And apparently, the death eaters had made an impression on them because she didn't spot a single one in the gangway.

Scratch that, three of them were coming her way, wand in their hands. Quickly, Sarah made sure her dark mark was covered because she didn't fancy a fight right now - not with them, anyways.

"Did you see where they were going?" a rugged-looking boy with dark brown hair asked, looking her over. Maybe he was trying to figure out which house she belonged to - if she was from Slytherin and an enemy or from one of the other three houses and an ally.

"They left the train." she answered in an even tone.

"Hey, you are the head girl from earlier!" the handsome blonde behind the dark-brown haired boy remarked. "Neville, she is Slytherin".

"You sure, McLaggen?" Neville Longbottom, Sarah assumed his full name was, asked without taking his eyes of the girl and McLaggen confirmed.

"And you are?" Sarah asked the third guy who hadn't yet said anything.

"Seamus Finnigan, what is yours?" said boy said in a hostile voice.

"Sarah. And I'd like to get to my compartment, so if you'd please step aside" It may have been phrased as a nice question, but her tone conveyed the exact opposite of that.

She was already moving to get past him when Longbottom moved and blocked her way more than he already did.

"You didn't mention your last name."

"I didn't. But I got yours: Longbottom, McLaggen and Finnigan. Nice of you to give me that advantage, so thanks, I guess..." she smiled sweetly.

"Problem?" a calm voice asked from behind the three boys and when they turned around, it was Theodore who was standing in the gangway, holding his wand casually at his side. Turns out that turning around while facing a Slytherin wasn't a good idea because it gave Sarah the opportunity to take out her wand.

"So now it's two against three and I like these odds..." Sarah remarked. "Two options boys: continue your way to search for the death eaters that have already departed or face the consequences. Oh wait, do we have head privileges yet?" Theodore nodded.

"Then I guess, you two have detention next Saturday with Snape. Want to make it more than one?" Sarah asked and watched their faces fall.

McLaggen was the first to put away his wand.

"Come on, those dirty snakes aren't worth it." Well, it he had to be so childish, Sarah decided to let him that imaginary advantage.

"See you, boys."


	8. Author's note

Hey guys, thanks for reading. This may be sad news for some of you, but I've kind of noticed that I don't know where this fic is going and that I've forgotten some parts of Sarah's relationship with major characters.

This is the reason why I will most likely repost this story with a slightly different premise. Sorry.


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